Discovery of non-carbohydrate inhibitors of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes

Microbial Biofilm: A Review on Formation, Infection, Antibiotic Resistance, Control Measures, and Innovative Treatment

Biofilm is complex and consists of bacterial colonies that reside in an exopolysaccharide matrix that attaches to foreign surfaces in a living organism. Biofilm frequently leads to nosocomial, chronic infections in clinical settings. Since the bacteria in the biofilm have developed antibiotic resistance, using antibiotics alone to treat infections brought on by biofilm is ineffective. This review provides a succinct summary of the theories behind the composition of, formation of, and drug-resistant infections attributed to biofilm and cutting-edge curative approaches to counteract and treat biofilm. The high frequency of medical device-induced infections due to biofilm warrants the application of innovative technologies to manage the complexities presented by biofilm.

Bacterial virulence factors: a target for heterocyclic compounds to combat bacterial resistance

Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. However, the growing understanding of bacterial pathogenesis and cell-to-cell communication has revealed many potential strategies for the discovery of drugs that can be used for the treatment of bacterial infections. Interfering with bacterial virulence and/or quorum sensing could be a particularly interesting approach, because it is believed to exert less selective pressure on the bacterial resistance than with traditional strategies, geared toward killing bacteria or preventing their growth. Here, we discuss the mechanism of bacterial virulence, presenting promising strategies and recently synthesized heterocyclic compounds to combat future bacterial infections.

The Antibiotic Resistome: A Guide for the Discovery of Natural Products as Antimicrobial Agents

The use of life-saving antibiotics has long been plagued by the ability of pathogenic bacteria to acquire and develop an array of antibiotic resistance mechanisms. The sum of these resistance mechanisms, the antibiotic resistome, is a formidable threat to antibiotic discovery, development, and use. The study and understanding of the molecular mechanisms in the resistome provide the basis for traditional approaches to combat resistance, including semisynthetic modification of naturally occurring antibiotic scaffolds, the development of adjuvant therapies that overcome resistance mechanisms, and the total synthesis of new antibiotics and their analogues. Using two major classes of antibiotics, the aminoglycosides and tetracyclines as case studies, we review the success and limitations of these strategies when used to combat the many forms of resistance that have emerged toward natural product-based antibiotics specifically. Furthermore, we discuss the use of the resistome as a guide for the genomics-driven discovery of novel antimicrobials, which are essential to combat the growing number of emerging pathogens that are resistant to even the newest approved therapies.

Action of Dicumarol on Glucosamine-1-Phosphate Acetyltransferase of GlmU and Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of most pathogenic microorganisms in the world. Previously, the bifunctional enzyme GlmU with glucosamine-1-phosphate acetyltransferase activity and N-acetylglucosamine-1-phosphate uridyltransferase activity has been suggested as a potential drug target; therefore, discovering compounds targeting GlmU acetyltransferase is necessary. The natural products were tested for inhibition of GlmU acetyltransferase activity. We found that dicumarol exhibited inhibitory effects on GlmU acetyltransferase, with a concentration achieving a 50% inhibition (IC₅₀) value of 4.608 μg/ml (13.7 μM). The inhibition kinetics indicated that dicumarol uncompetitively inhibited acetyl CoA and showed mixed-type inhibition for glucosamine-1-phosphate (GlcN-1-P). The activity of dicumarol against M. tuberculosis H37Ra was evaluated with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 6.25 μg/ml (18.55 μM) in the Alamar blue assay. Dicumarol also exhibited inhibitory effects on several clinically sensitive M. tuberculosis strains and drug-resistant strains, with a range of MIC value of 6.25 to >100 μg/ml. Dicumarol increased the sensitivity of anti-tuberculosis drugs (isoniazid and rifampicin) when dicumarol was present at a low concentration. The transcriptome and proteome data of M. tuberculosis H37Ra treated by dicumarol showed that the affected genes were associated with cell wall synthesis, DNA damage and repair, metabolic processes, and signal transduction. These results provided the mechanism of dicumarol inhibition against GlmU acetyltransferase and M. tuberculosis and also suggested that dicumarol is a potential candidate for TB treatment.

Antibiotics versus biofilm: an emerging battleground in microbial communities

Biofilm is a complex structure of microbiome having different bacterial colonies or single type of cells in a group; adhere to the surface. These cells are embedded in extracellular polymeric substances, a matrix which is generally composed of eDNA, proteins and polysaccharides, showed high resistance to antibiotics. It is one of the major causes of infection persistence especially in nosocomial settings through indwelling devices. Quorum sensing plays an important role in regulating the biofilm formation. There are many approaches being used to control infections by suppressing its formation but CRISPR-CAS (gene editing technique) and photo dynamic therapy (PDT) are proposed to be used as therapeutic approaches to subside bacterial biofim infections, especially caused by deadly drug resistant bad bugs.

Molecules that Inhibit Bacterial Resistance Enzymes

Antibiotic resistance mediated by bacterial enzymes constitutes an unmet clinical challenge for public health, particularly for those currently used antibiotics that are recognized as "last-resort" defense against multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria. Inhibitors of resistance enzymes offer an alternative strategy to counter this threat. The combination of inhibitors and antibiotics could effectively prolong the lifespan of clinically relevant antibiotics and minimize the impact and emergence of resistance. In this review, we first provide a brief overview of antibiotic resistance mechanism by bacterial secreted enzymes. Furthermore, we summarize the potential inhibitors that sabotage these resistance pathways and restore the bactericidal activity of inactive antibiotics. Finally, the faced challenges and an outlook for the development of more effective and safer resistance enzyme inhibitors are discussed.

Evaluation of Aminoglycoside and Carbapenem Resistance in a Collection of Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Clinical Isolates

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a Gram-negative bacterium, is a member of the ESKAPE pathogens and one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections worldwide. Aminoglycosides (AGs) are recognized for their efficacy against P. aeruginosa. The most common resistance mechanism against AGs is the acquisition of AG-modifying enzymes (AMEs) by the bacteria, including AG N-acetyltransferases (AACs), AG O-phosphotransferases (APHs), and AG O-nucleotidyltransferases (ANTs). In this study, we obtained 122 multidrug-resistant P. aeruginosa clinical isolates and evaluated the antibacterial effects of six AGs and two carbapenems alone against all clinical isolates, and in combination against eight selected strains. We further probed for four representatives of the most common AME genes [aac(6')-Ib, aac(3)-IV, ant(2")-Ia, and aph(3')-Ia] by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and compared the AME patterns of these 122 clinical isolates to their antibiotic resistance profile. Among the diverse antibiotics resistance profile displayed by these clinical isolates, we found correlations between the resistance to various AGs as well as between the resistance to one AG and the resistance to carbapenems. PCR results revealed that the presence of aac(6')-Ib renders these isolates more resistant to a variety of antibiotics. The correlation between resistance to various AGs and carbapenems partially reflects the complex resistance strategies adapted in these pathogens and encourages the development of strategic treatment for each P. aeruginosa infection by considering the genetic information of each isolated bacteria.

Potential Alternative Strategy against Drug Resistant Tuberculosis: A Proteomics Prospect

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the deadliest human pathogen of the tuberculosis diseases. Drug resistance leads to emergence of multidrug-resistant and extremely drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. Apart from principal targets of resistance, many explanations have been proposed for drug resistance but some resistance mechanisms are still unknown. Recently approved line probe assay (LPA) diagnostics for detecting the resistance to first and second line drugs are unable to diagnose the drug resistance in M. tuberculosis isolates which do not have the mutations in particular genes responsible for resistance. Proteomics and bioinformatic tools emerged as direct approaches for identification and characterization of novel proteins which are directly and indirectly involved in drug resistance that could be used as potential targets in future. In future, these novel targets might reveal new mechanism of resistance and can be used in diagnostics or as drug targets.

Comprehensive review of chemical strategies for the preparation of new aminoglycosides and their biological activities

A systematic analysis of all synthetic and chemoenzymatic methodologies for the preparation of aminoglycosides for a variety of applications (therapeutic and agricultural) reported in the scientific literature up to 2017 is presented. This comprehensive analysis of derivatization/generation of novel aminoglycosides and their conjugates is divided based on the types of modifications used to make the new derivatives. Both the chemical strategies utilized and the biological results observed are covered. Structure-activity relationships based on different synthetic modifications along with their implications for activity and ability to avoid resistance against different microorganisms are also presented.

M. tuberculosis Hypothetical Proteins and Proteins of Unknown Function: Hope for Exploring Novel Resistance Mechanisms as well as Future Target of Drug Resistance

Drug resistance in tuberculosis predominantly, mono-resistance, multi drug resistance, extensively drug resistance and totally drug resistance have emerged as a major problem in the chemotherapy of tuberculosis. Failures of first and second line anti-tuberculosis drugs treatment leads to emergence of resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Few genes are reported as the principal targets of the resistance and apart from the primary targets many explanations have been proposed for drug resistance but still some resistance mechanisms are unknown. As proteins involved in most of the biological processes, these are potentially explored the unknown mechanism of drug resistance and attractive targets for diagnostics/future therapeutics against drug resistance. In last decade a panel of studies on expression proteomics of drug resistant M. tuberculosis isolates reported the differential expression of uncharacterized proteins and suggested these might be involved in resistance. Here we emphasize that detailed bioinformatics analysis (like molecular docking, pupylation, and proteins-proteins interaction) of these uncharacterized and hypothetical proteins might predict their interactive partners (other proteins) which are involved in various pathways of M. tuberculosis system biology and might give a clue for novel mechanism of drug resistance or future drug targets. In future these uncharacterized targets might be open the new resistance mechanism and used as potential drug targets against drug resistant tuberculosis.

Cytosolic Proteome Profiling of Aminoglycosides Resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates Using MALDI-TOF/MS

Emergence of extensively drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is the consequence of the failure of second line TB treatment. Aminoglycosides are the important second line anti-TB drugs used to treat the multi drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). Main known mechanism of action of aminoglycosides is to inhibit the protein synthesis by inhibiting the normal functioning of ribosome. Primary target of aminoglycosides are the ribosomal RNA and its associated proteins. Various mechanisms have been proposed for aminoglycosides resistance but still some are unsolved. As proteins are involved in most of the biological processes, these act as a potential diagnostic markers and drug targets. In the present study we analyzed the purely cytosolic proteome of amikacin (AK) and kanamycin (KM) resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by proteomic and bioinformatic approaches. Twenty protein spots were found to have over expressed in resistant isolates and were identified. Among these Rv3208A, Rv2623, Rv1360, Rv2140c, Rv1636, and Rv2185c are six proteins with unknown functions or undefined role. Docking results showed that AK and KM binds to the conserved domain (DUF, USP-A, Luciferase, PEBP and Polyketidecyclase/dehydrase domain) of these hypothetical proteins and over expression of these proteins might neutralize/modulate the effect of drug molecules. TBPred and GPS-PUP predicted cytoplasmic nature and potential pupylation sites within these identified proteins, respectively. String analysis also suggested that over expressed proteins along with their interactive partners might be involved in aminoglycosides resistance. Cumulative effect of these over expressed proteins could be involved in AK and KM resistance by mitigating the toxicity, repression of drug target and neutralizing affect. These findings need further exploitation for the expansion of newer therapeutics or diagnostic markers against AK and KM resistance so that an extreme condition like XDR-TB can be prevented.

Identification of an Inhibitor of the Aminoglycoside 6'-N-Acetyltransferase type Ib [AAC(6')-Ib] by Glide Molecular Docking

The aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase type Ib, AAC(6')-Ib, confers resistance to clinically relevant aminoglycosides and is the most widely distributed enzyme among AAC(6')-I-producing Gram-negative pathogens. An alternative to counter the action of this enzyme is the development of inhibitors. Glide is a computational strategy for rapidly docking ligands to protein sites and estimating their binding affinities. We docked a collection of 280,000 compounds from 7 sub-libraries of the Chembridge library as ligands to the aminoglycoside binding site of AAC(6')-Ib. We identified a compound, 1-[3-(2-aminoethyl)benzyl]-3-(piperidin-1-ylmethyl)pyrrolidin-3-ol (compound 1), that inhibited the acetylation of aminoglycosides in vitro with IC50 values of 39.7 and 34.9 µM when the aminoglycoside substrates assayed were kanamycin A or amikacin, respectively. The growth of an amikacin-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii clinical strain was inhibited in the presence of a combination of amikacin and compound 1.

Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Aminoglycosides Resistant and Susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis Clinical Isolates for Exploring Potential Drug Targets

Aminoglycosides, amikacin (AK) and kanamycin (KM) are second line anti-tuberculosis drugs used to treat tuberculosis (TB) and resistance to them affects the treatment. Membrane and membrane associated proteins have an anticipated role in biological processes and pathogenesis and are potential targets for the development of new diagnostics/vaccine/therapeutics. In this study we compared membrane and membrane associated proteins of AK and KM resistant and susceptible Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates by 2DE coupled with MALDI-TOF/TOF-MS and bioinformatic tools. Twelve proteins were found to have increased intensities (PDQuest Advanced Software) in resistant isolates and were identified as ATP synthase subunit alpha (Rv1308), Trigger factor (Rv2462c), Dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase (Rv0462), Elongation factor Tu (Rv0685), Transcriptional regulator MoxR1(Rv1479), Universal stress protein (Rv2005c), 35kDa hypothetical protein (Rv2744c), Proteasome subunit alpha (Rv2109c), Putative short-chain type dehydrogenase/reductase (Rv0148), Bacterioferritin (Rv1876), Ferritin (Rv3841) and Alpha-crystallin/HspX (Rv2031c). Among these Rv2005c, Rv2744c and Rv0148 are proteins with unknown functions. Docking showed that both drugs bind to the conserved domain (Usp, PspA and SDR domain) of these hypothetical proteins and GPS-PUP predicted potential pupylation sites within them. Increased intensities of these proteins and proteasome subunit alpha might not only be neutralized/modulated the drug molecules but also involved in protein turnover to overcome the AK and KM resistance. Besides that Rv1876, Rv3841 and Rv0685 were found to be associated with iron regulation signifying the role of iron in resistance. Further research is needed to explore how these potential protein targets contribute to resistance of AK and KM.

Inhibition of aminoglycoside acetyltransferase resistance enzymes by metal salts

Aminoglycosides (AGs) are clinically relevant antibiotics used to treat infections caused by both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, as well as Mycobacteria. As with all current antibacterial agents, resistance to AGs is an increasing problem. The most common mechanism of resistance to AGs is the presence of AG-modifying enzymes (AMEs) in bacterial cells, with AG acetyltransferases (AACs) being the most prevalent. Recently, it was discovered that Zn(2+) metal ions displayed an inhibitory effect on the resistance enzyme AAC(6')-Ib in Acinetobacter baumannii and Escherichia coli. In this study, we explore a wide array of metal salts (Mg(2+), Cr(3+), Cr(6+), Mn(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+), Cd(2+), and Au(3+) with different counter ions) and their inhibitory effect on a large repertoire of AACs [AAC(2')-Ic, AAC(3)-Ia, AAC(3)-Ib, AAC(3)-IV, AAC(6')-Ib', AAC(6')-Ie, AAC(6')-IId, and Eis]. In addition, we determine the MIC values for amikacin and tobramycin in combination with a zinc pyrithione complex in clinical isolates of various bacterial strains (two strains of A. baumannii, three of Enterobacter cloacae, and four of Klebsiella pneumoniae) and one representative of each species purchased from the American Type Culture Collection.

Double-addition reaction of aryl methyl sulfones with N-tert-butylsulfinyl imines: diastereoselective and concise synthesis of 2-sulfonylated 1,3-diamines

We report a double-addition reaction of methyl phenyl sulfone and methyl 2-pyridyl sulfone with N-tert-butylsulfinyl imines. This method provides concise access to 2-sulfonylated 1,3-anti diamines with good to excellent diastereoselectivities. This protocol has the benefit of using readily accessible starting materials and is operationally simple.

Inhibition of the ANT(2")-Ia resistance enzyme and rescue of aminoglycoside antibiotic activity by synthetic α-hydroxytropolones

Aminoglycoside-2"-O-nucleotidyltransferase ANT(2")-Ia is an aminoglycoside resistance enzyme prevalent among Gram-negative bacteria, and is one of the most common determinants of enzyme-dependant aminoglycoside-resistance. The following report outlines the use of our recently described oxidopyrylium cycloaddition/ring-opening strategy in the synthesis and profiling of a library of synthetic α-hydroxytropolones against ANT(2")-Ia. In addition, we show that two of these synthetic constructs are capable of rescuing gentamicin activity against ANT-(2")-Ia-expressing bacteria.

New trends in aminoglycosides use

Despite their inherent toxicity and the acquired bacterial resistance that continuously threaten their long-term clinical use, aminoglycosides (AGs) still remain valuable components of the antibiotic armamentarium. Recent literature shows that the AGs' role has been further expanded as multi-tasking players in different areas of study. This review aims at presenting some of the new trends observed in the use of AGs in the past decade, along with the current understanding of their mechanisms of action in various bacterial and eukaryotic cellular processes.

Strategies to overcome the action of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes for treating resistant bacterial infections

Shortly after the discovery of the first antibiotics, bacterial resistance began to emerge. Many mechanisms give rise to resistance; the most prevalent mechanism of resistance to the aminoglycoside (AG) family of antibiotics is the action of aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs). Since the identification of these modifying enzymes, many efforts have been put forth to prevent their damaging alterations of AGs. These diverse strategies are discussed within this review, including: creating new AGs that are unaffected by AMEs; developing inhibitors of AMEs to be co-delivered with AGs; or regulating AME expression. Modern high-throughput methods as well as drug combinations and repurposing are highlighted as recent drug-discovery efforts towards fighting the increasing antibiotic resistance crisis.

Proteomic analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates resistant to kanamycin and amikacin

Kanamycin (KM) and amikacin (AK) are the key aminoglycoside drugs against tuberculosis (TB) and resistance to them severely affects the options for treatment. Many explanations have been proposed for drug resistance to these drugs but still some mechanisms are unknown. Proteins are the functional moiety of the cell and manifest in most of the biological processes; so, these are potential foci for the development of new therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccine. We examined the KM and AK resistant isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using proteomic analysis comprising of two dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DGE), matrix assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight/time-of flight (MALDI-TOF/TOF) and bioinformatic tools like BLASTP, InterProScan, KEGG motif scan and molecular docking. Proteins intensities of twelve spots were found to be consistently increased in KM and AK resistant isolates and these were identified as Rv3867, Rv1932, Rv3418c, Rv1876, Rv2031c, Rv0155, Rv0643c, Rv3224, Rv0952, and Rv0440. Among these, Rv3867 and Rv3224 were identified as proteins with unknown function. All the proteins identified were cellular proteins. Molecular docking shows the proper interaction of both drugs with these molecules. Also, Rv1876 and Rv3224 were found to be probably involved in iron regulation/metabolism indicating the role of iron in imparting resistance to second line drugs.

BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The study that was carried out shows that two dimensional electrophoresis along with mass spectrometry is still the best approach for proteomic analysis. To the best of our knowledge it is the first ever report on proteomic analysis of M. tuberculosis isolates resistant to second line drugs (kanamycin and amikacin). The major finding implicates that the genes/proteins involved in iron metabolism and the two hypothetical proteins (Rv3867 and Rv3224) might be playing some crucial role in contributing resistance to second line drugs. Further exploitation in this direction may lead to the development of newer therapeutics against tuberculosis.

Prospects for circumventing aminoglycoside kinase mediated antibiotic resistance

Aminoglycosides are a class of antibiotics with a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity. Unfortunately, resistance in clinical isolates is pervasive, rendering many aminoglycosides ineffective. The most widely disseminated means of resistance to this class of antibiotics is inactivation of the drug by aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs). There are two principal strategies to overcoming the effects of AMEs. The first approach involves the design of novel aminoglycosides that can evade modification. Although this strategy has yielded a number of superior aminoglycoside variants, their efficacy cannot be sustained in the long term. The second approach entails the development of molecules that interfere with the mechanism of AMEs such that the activity of aminoglycosides is preserved. Although such a molecule has yet to enter clinical development, the search for AME inhibitors has been greatly facilitated by the wealth of structural information amassed in recent years. In particular, aminoglycoside phosphotransferases or kinases (APHs) have been studied extensively and crystal structures of a number of APHs with diverse regiospecificity and substrate specificity have been elucidated. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview of the available APH structures and recent progress in APH inhibitor development, with a focus on the structure-guided strategies.

Rise and dissemination of aminoglycoside resistance: the aac(6')-Ib paradigm

Enzymatic modification is a prevalent mechanism by which bacteria defeat the action of antibiotics. Aminoglycosides are often inactivated by aminoglycoside modifying enzymes encoded by genes present in the chromosome, plasmids, and other genetic elements. The AAC(6′)-Ib (aminoglycoside 6′-N-acetyltransferase type Ib) is an enzyme of clinical importance found in a wide variety of gram-negative pathogens. The AAC(6′)-Ib enzyme is of interest not only because of his ubiquity but also because of other characteristics, it presents significant microheterogeneity at the N-termini and the aac(6′)-Ib gene is often present in integrons, transposons, plasmids, genomic islands, and other genetic structures. Excluding the highly heterogeneous N-termini, there are 45 non-identical AAC(6′)-Ib related entries in the NCBI database, 32 of which have identical name in spite of not having identical amino acid sequence. While some variants conserved similar properties, others show dramatic differences in specificity, including the case of AAC(6′)-Ib-cr that mediates acetylation of ciprofloxacin representing a rare case where a resistance enzyme acquires the ability to utilize an antibiotic of a different class as substrate. Efforts to utilize antisense technologies to turn off expression of the gene or to identify enzymatic inhibitors to induce phenotypic conversion to susceptibility are under way.

Understanding and overcoming aminoglycoside resistance caused by N-6'-acetyltransferase

Aminoglycosides occupy a special niche amongst antibiotics in part because of their broad spectrum of action. Bacterial resistance is however menacing to render these drugs obsolete. A significant amount of work has been devoted to understand and overcome aminoglycoside resistance. This mini-review will discuss aminoglycoside-modifying enzymes (AMEs), with a special emphasis on the efforts to comprehend and block resistance caused by aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase (AAC(6')).

Aminoglycoside modifying enzymes

Aminoglycosides have been an essential component of the armamentarium in the treatment of life-threatening infections. Unfortunately, their efficacy has been reduced by the surge and dissemination of resistance. In some cases the levels of resistance reached the point that rendered them virtually useless. Among many known mechanisms of resistance to aminoglycosides, enzymatic modification is the most prevalent in the clinical setting. Aminoglycoside modifying enzymes catalyze the modification at different -OH or -NH₂ groups of the 2-deoxystreptamine nucleus or the sugar moieties and can be nucleotidyltransferases, phosphotransferases, or acetyltransferases. The number of aminoglycoside modifying enzymes identified to date as well as the genetic environments where the coding genes are located is impressive and there is virtually no bacteria that is unable to support enzymatic resistance to aminoglycosides. Aside from the development of new aminoglycosides refractory to as many as possible modifying enzymes there are currently two main strategies being pursued to overcome the action of aminoglycoside modifying enzymes. Their successful development would extend the useful life of existing antibiotics that have proven effective in the treatment of infections. These strategies consist of the development of inhibitors of the enzymatic action or of the expression of the modifying enzymes.

NMR detected hydrogen-deuterium exchange reveals differential dynamics of antibiotic- and nucleotide-bound aminoglycoside phosphotransferase 3'-IIIa

In this work, hydrogen-deuterium exchange detected by NMR spectroscopy is used to determine the dynamic properties of the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase 3'-IIIa (APH), a protein of intense interest due to its involvement in conferring antibiotic resistance to both gram negative and gram positive microorganisms. This represents the first characterization of dynamic properties of an aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme. Herein we describe in vitro dynamics of apo, binary, and ternary complexes of APH with kanamycin A, neomycin B, and metal-nucleotide. Regions of APH in different complexes that are superimposable in crystal structures show remarkably different dynamic behavior. A complete exchange of backbone amides is observed within the first 15 h of exposure to D(2)O in the apo form of this 31 kDa protein. Binding of aminoglycosides to the enzyme induces significant protection against exchange, and approximately 30% of the amides remain unexchanged up to 95 h after exposure to D(2)O. Our data also indicate that neomycin creates greater solvent protection and overall enhanced structural stability to APH than kanamycin. Surprisingly, nucleotide binding to the enzyme-aminoglycoside complex increases solvent accessibility of a number of amides and is responsible for destabilization of a nearby beta-sheet, thus providing a rational explanation for previously observed global thermodynamic parameters. Our data also provide a molecular basis for broad substrate selectivity of APH.

Aminoglycosides versus bacteria – a description of the action, resistance mechanism, and nosocomial battleground

Since 1944, we have come a long way using aminoglycosides as antibiotics. Bacteria also have got them selected with hardier resistance mechanisms. Aminoglycosides are aminocyclitols that kill bacteria by inhibiting protein synthesis as they bind to the 16S rRNA and by disrupting the integrity of bacterial cell membrane. Aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms include: (a) the deactivation of aminoglycosides by N-acetylation, adenylylation or O-phosphorylation, (b) the reduction of the intracellular concentration of aminoglycosides by changes in outer membrane permeability, decreased inner membrane transport, active efflux, and drug trapping, (c) the alteration of the 30S ribosomal subunit target by mutation, and (d) methylation of the aminoglycoside binding site. There is an alarming increase in resistance outbreaks in hospital setting. Our review explores the molecular understanding of aminoglycoside action and resistance with an aim to minimize the spread of resistance.

The use of aminoglycoside derivatives to study the mechanism of aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase and the role of 6'-NH2 in antibacterial activity

Aminoglycoside antibiotics act by binding to 16S rRNA. Resistance to these antibiotics occurs via drug modifications by enzymes such as aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferases (AAC(6')s). We report here the regioselective and efficient synthesis of N-6'-acylated aminoglycosides and their use as probes to study AAC(6')-Ii and aminoglycoside-RNA complexes. Our results emphasize the central role of N-6' nucleophilicity for transformation by AAC(6')-Ii and the importance of hydrogen bonding between 6'-NH(2) and 16S rRNA for antibacterial activity.

External guide sequences targeting the aac(6')-Ib mRNA induce inhibition of amikacin resistance

The dissemination of AAC(6')-I-type acetyltransferases have rendered amikacin and other aminoglycosides all but useless in some parts of the world. Antisense technologies could be an alternative to extend the life of these antibiotics. External guide sequences are short antisense oligoribonucleotides that induce RNase P-mediated cleavage of a target RNA by forming a precursor tRNA-like complex. Thirteen-nucleotide external guide sequences complementary to locations within five regions accessible for interaction with antisense oligonucleotides in the mRNA that encodes AAC(6')-Ib were analyzed. While small variations in the location targeted by different external guide sequences resulted in big changes in efficiency of binding to native aac(6')-Ib mRNA, most of them induced high levels of RNase P-mediated cleavage in vitro. Recombinant plasmids coding for selected external guide sequences were introduced into Escherichia coli harboring aac(6')-Ib, and the transformant strains were tested to determine their resistance to amikacin. The two external guide sequences that showed the strongest binding efficiency to the mRNA in vitro, EGSC3 and EGSA2, interfered with expression of the resistance phenotype at different degrees. Growth curve experiments showed that E. coli cells harboring a plasmid coding for EGSC3, the external guide sequence with the highest mRNA binding affinity in vitro, did not grow for at least 300 min in the presence of 15 mug of amikacin/ml. EGSA2, which had a lower mRNA-binding affinity in vitro than EGSC3, inhibited the expression of amikacin resistance at a lesser level; growth of E. coli harboring a plasmid coding for EGSA2, in the presence of 15 mug of amikacin/ml was undetectable for 200 min but reached an optical density at 600 nm of 0.5 after 5 h of incubation. Our results indicate that the use of external guide sequences could be a viable strategy to preserve the efficacy of amikacin.

Survey of the year 2005: literature on applications of isothermal titration calorimetry

Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) can provide a full thermodynamic characterization of an interaction. Its usage does not suffer from constraints of molecular size, shape or chemical constitution. Neither is there any need for chemical modification or attachment to solid support. This ease of use has made it an invaluable instrumental resource and led to its appearance in many laboratories. Despite this, the value of the thermodynamic parameterization has, only quite recently, become widely appreciated. Although our understanding of the correlation between thermodynamic data and structural details continues to be somewhat naïve, a large number of publications have begun to improve the situation. In this overview of the literature for 2005, we have attempted to highlight works of interest and novelty. Furthermore, we draw attention to those works which we feel have provided a route to better analysis and increased our ability to understand the meaning of thermodynamic change on binding.

Dissection of Aminoglycoside−Enzyme Interactions: A Calorimetric and NMR Study of Neomycin B Binding to the Aminoglycoside Phosphotransferase(3‘)-IIIa

In this work, for the first time, we report pKa values of the amino functions in a target-bound aminoglycoside antibiotic, which permitted dissection of the thermodynamic properties of an enzyme-aminoglycoside complex. Uniformly enriched 15N-neomycin was isolated from cultures of Streptomyces fradiae and used to study its binding to the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase(3')-IIIa (APH) by 15N NMR spectroscopy. 15N NMR studies showed that binding of neomycin to APH causes upshifts of approximately 1 pKa unit for the amines N2' and N2' '' while N6' experienced a 0.3 pKa unit shift. The pKa of N6' '' remained unaltered, and resonances of N1 and N3 showed significant broadening upon binding to the enzyme. The binding-linked protonation and pH dependence of the association constant (Kb) for the enzyme-aminoglycoside complex was determined by isothermal titration calorimetry. The enthalpy of binding became more favorable (negative) with increasing pH. At high pH, binding-linked protonation was attributable mostly to the amino functions of neomycin; however, at neutral pH, functional groups of the enzyme, possibly remote from the active site, also underwent protonation/deprotonation upon formation of the binary enzyme-neomycin complex. The Kb for the enzyme-neomycin complex showed a complicated dependence on pH, indicating that multiple interactions may affect the affinity of the ligand to the enzyme and altered conditions, such as pH, may favor one or another. This work highlights the importance of determining thermodynamic parameters of aminoglycoside-target interactions under different conditions before making attributions to specific sites and their effects on these global parameters.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of truncated bisubstrate inhibitors of aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferases

Truncated aminoglycoside-coenzyme A bisubstrate analogues were efficiently prepared using a convergent approach where the amine and the thiol are coupled in one pot with the addition of a linker, without the need for protecting groups. These derivatives were tested for their effect on the activity of the resistance-causing enzyme aminoglycoside 6'-N-acetyltransferase Ii, and key structure-activity relationships are reported. Moreover, one of the inhibitors is able to block aminoglycoside resistance in cells expressing this enzyme.

Asymmetric Michael Addition of Nitroalkanes to Nitroalkenes Catalyzed by C2-Symmetric Tridentate Bis(oxazoline) and Bis(thiazoline) Zinc Complexes

The first asymmetric synthesis of 1,3-dinitro compounds through Michael addition of nitroalkanes to nitroalkenes catalyzed by C2-symmetric chiral tridentate bis(oxazoline) and bis(thiazoline) zinc complexes was achieved with high enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee).

Molecular understanding of aminoglycoside action and resistance

Aminoglycosides are potent bactericidal antibiotics targeting the bacterial ribosome, where they bind to the A-site and disrupt protein synthesis. They are particularly active against aerobic, Gram-negative bacteria and act synergistically against certain Gram-positive organisms. Aminoglycosides are used in the treatment of severe infections of the abdomen and urinary tract, bacteremia, and endocarditis. They are also used for prophylaxis, especially against endocarditis. Bacterial resistance to aminoglycosides continues to escalate and is widely recognized as a serious health threat. This might be the reason for the interest in understanding the mechanisms of resistance. It is now clear that the resistance occurs by different mechanisms such as prevention of drug entry, active extrusion of drugs, alteration of the drug target (mutational modification of 16S rRNA and mutational modification of ribosomal proteins), and enzymatic inactivation through the expression of enzymes, which covalently modify these antibiotics. Enzymatic inactivation is normally due to acetyltransferases, nucleotidyltransferases, and phosphotransferases. In this review, we focus on the recent concept of molecular understanding of aminoglycoside action and resistance.